This application claims priority of DE 199 01 582.1, filed Jan. 16, 1999, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a ventilation device for an interior of a vehicle provided with a windshield and instrument panel, with a plurality of air outlet openings in the instrument panel close to windshield, said openings being arranged side by side in two rows, behind one another as viewed in the direction of travel.
In a known ventilation device of this kind (U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,469) the air outlet openings serve as defroster nozzles to keep the windshield free of precipitation and are connected to a common warm air duct. As a result of the separate blowing of the warm air, vortices and dynamic vacuum zones are formed in the outlet area from two air openings located one behind the other, said zones combining the two separate air streams into a narrow stream that blows deliberately against the windshield, intensifying the effect of the precipitation removal and the carrying away of moisture at the windshield.
In modern automobiles, increasingly flat windshields are steadily increasing the height or length of the windshield. The air flowing along the windshield has a greater cooling effect because of the greater length. To guarantee that the windshield is kept free of precipitation, when the ambient temperature is cooler air with a relatively high temperature must be blown out of the air outlet openings. This considerably heated air also flows into the air space above the instrument panel and toward the heads of the passengers. For climate comfort in the interior, however, it is desirable to have a warm foot area and a cool upper air space in the head area.
A goal of the invention is to provide a ventilation device of the type described at the outset which reliably keeps large-area windshields free of precipitation and also guarantees customary climate comfort in the interior.
This goal is achieved according to the invention by providing a ventilation device of the above-noted type, wherein each row of air outlet openings is connected to one of two separate air supply channels and that the air supply channel that runs to the front row is subjected to a flow of warm air conditioned to higher temperature than the air supply channel that leads to the back row.
The ventilation device according to the invention has the advantage that the air, heated to a greater degree, coming from the front air outlet openings close to the windshield is applied as a warm air film to the windshield and keeps it free of precipitation while the cooler air flow from the rear air outlet openings located closer to the vehicle occupants reaches the upper air space and produces the desired climate comfort there.
Advantageous embodiments of the ventilation device according to the invention with appropriate designs and improvements to the invention are described herein and in the claims.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.